Five ways of looking at UFC 166: JDS' game plan, cageside doctors and more

There are times when watching a UFC pay-per-view makes me wish I could install some sort of hyperbole filter on my TV.

Nothing major. Just a simple device to strain out a few of the superlatives that seem to find their way onto the broadcasts a little too easily. UFC event nights seem to be when dudes who throw straight punches become “elite” boxers and guys with decent double-legs are suddenly “world class” wrestlers.

Everything is the best and the greatest and insane and awesome. Too much of that will warp your brain.

But as I sat watching UFC President Dana White and color commentator Joe Rogan trade adjectives after Saturday’s main event of UFC 166, I had to wonder if maybe this time the hyperbole wasn’t warranted. Was this the best night of fights we’ve ever seen? Or did it just feel that way in the immediate afterglow, especially after a string of top-heavy cards and weekday Brazilian fight nights?

I know that, at least in this top-10 list culture of ours, answering this question seems vital. It’s as if we’re afraid that we won’t be able to truly enjoy these things if we don’t decide instantly, right now, where they fall on the hierarchy of the best ever. That seems sad, and kind of dumb. It also seems unnecessary and like something we’d be better off filtering out from our viewing experience, even if we have to do it ourselves.

Some other notes and observations from Saturday night’s event in Houston…

1. Dos Santos tries same thing, hoping for different results

It’s easy to criticize a fighter’s game plan from afar, which might be why it’s such a popular post-fight pastime, but I’m not sure what Junior dos Santos (16-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was thinking here. You’d think the second fight with Cain Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) would have taught him that he didn’t want to get stuck against the fence as a stationary target for the smaller, quicker champion. Apparently you’d be wrong. I realize that some things are easier said than done in the fight game, but once standing there and bleeding on Velasquez had been shown to be an ineffective strategy, why not try something else? Why not at least make an effort to get the fight out into the open space of the octagon, where that great footwork we always hear about might be of some use?

After this trilogy with Velasquez, no one can question dos Santos’ toughness or his heart. What we can question is whether he might have relied on those attributes a little too much lately, forgetting that just because you can take a punch doesn’t mean you have to keep volunteering to do so.

2. Melendez will fight again for title sooner rather than later

There isn’t much that Gilbert Melendez (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) doesn’t do well in the cage, and his decision victory over Diego Sanchez (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) in a brutal, bloody fight showed off his full range of skills. He’s that rare fighter who’s smart and technical when he needs to be, but also isn’t afraid to plant his feet and throw down. In other words, he’s exactly the kind of fighter the UFC loves.

He can wrestle, and he can brawl. He can stick-and-move, and he can just plain stick. Had one judge seen things just a little bit differently back in April, he might be UFC lightweight champion right now. After his “Fight of the Night” performance against a game, though largely overmatched Sanchez, don’t be surprised to see him get another crack at it in the near future. If that crack happens to come against current champ Anthony Pettis, there may very well be another fight-night bonus in Melendez’s future.

3. So what would warrant a doctor stoppage in Texas, anyway?

Near as I can tell, as long as your eyes are still in your skull and you can count the number of fingers hovering six inches from your face, you’re in fine fighting condition according to the cageside officials in the Lone Star State.

That willingness to let nature takes its course undoubtedly contributed to the general awesomeness of this event (would Rogan still have called Melendez-Sanchez the greatest fight he’d ever seen if it had been stopped once a cut threatened to unzip Sanchez’s entire forehead?), but it also made for some moments that were hard to watch.

Forget the late stoppages that resulted in both T.J. Waldburger and Shawn Jordan taking a few more blows than they needed to, and instead think back to the post-fight remarks from both dos Santos and Sanchez. One sounded like he was talking through a wad of gauze, and the other like he’d just come off a three-day bender. Both had been examined by doctors who looked into their heads and deemed them fit to continue. You want to let fighters fight, at least to a certain extent, but if neither one of those was worth stopping for medical reasons, then I’m not sure I want to see the fight that would be.

4. Cormier plays it smart, while Nelson plays it… Nelson

It doesn’t take much for the UFC boss to get frustrated with “Big Country,” but this time you have to admit he has a point. After his unanimous decision loss to Daniel Cormier (13-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), Roy Nelson (19-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) complained that the two-time Olympian “didn’t engage me, really.”

Of course, the FightMetric stats tell a very different story, as they show Cormier landing more than three times as many strikes as Nelson, and nabbing three of five takedown attempts. Maybe Cormier didn’t stand completely still and trade bombs with Nelson, but why would you when you’re quick enough to land a couple and then get out of the way? Nelson can hang his chin out there all he wants, but that doesn’t mean Cormier is obligated to return the favor.

5. Dodson reminds us that there is such a thing as a flyweight with power

I’m not sure how big a deal we should make out of John Dodson (15-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) scoring, according to the UFC, the third-fastest knockout in flyweight history against Darrell Montague (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC). I mean, it’s still a relatively new division, and not one known for an overabundance of knockouts.

Still, Dodson is one 125-pounder who possesses the fight-ending power we’re often told that flyweights lack. He brings a lot of excitement to a division that’s still trying to gain traction with fans, and it’s smart of the UFC to use him to lead off the pay-per-view portion of the card. Chances are we’re going to see Dodson, Joseph Benavidez and champion Demetrious Johnson play a game of musical chairs in flyweight title fights, maybe for the foreseeable future. While that does make you wonder about the depth of the division, it also doesn’t sound like such a bad way to spend a Saturday night.

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